Thinking about Purim

3 more weeks till Purim. I have to admit that since we moved to US, Purim is not so much fun. I am missing going to Adloyada and celebrating with family and friends. Maybe this year we need to make more efforts and find some community events here, where we live. Meanwhile I found some fun pictures from Purim 2001 and made a page for Crafting Jewish Style blog.

Supplies: patterned paper (Crafting Jewish Style), letter stickers (American Crafts), buttons (Foolala), pearls (Kaiser Crafts), die and die-cut machine (Lifestyle Crafts), border punch (Fiskars), butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), smooch spritz (Clearsnap)

I made the flowers using the tutorial here. To make my life easier, I used half circles and not full circles. Crafting Jewish Style paper had a cardstock quality, so it was too thick when I started from the full circle. Using bone folder also helped a lot. I used 2 new colors of Smooch Spritz - Vanilla Shimmer on the flowers and Cherry Ice on the butterflies.

We have a busy day today - dentist for the girls, art show at Ella's school, than Lila has her first babysitting job, finish packing and to bed. Tomorrow 6am Ofir and Lila fly out to Los-Angeles.

Scrap That Baby - layout, mini album and DT call

Phew, another 9 days with no blogging. Another busy month almost gone. Ella went to 2 birthday parties, dressed like a lumberjack for Lumberjack day at school and graduated from speech therapy. So proud of this girl! 

 

Lila spent hours at the rink, practicing for the Nationals and participated in drama workshop at school. Last Thursday the club organized a party for the team to wish them good luck and she received her medal from Maplewood competition. Her team took the first place but the organizers were one medal short, so Lila agreed to wait. Tuesday early morning they fly out to California.

We had snow, again. So much snow this year. It was beautiful. But I started to think about spring and warmer weather. I am waiting anxiously for summer. My parents are coming to spend few weeks with  us and I can't wait.

To make it easier for Eli to connect with his grandparents, I made a little book for him with pictures of his grandparents and his uncles and aunts. It is a super easy project that took only few minutes after I chose the pictures and printed them. More pictures and full tutorial here at Scrap That Baby.

Here is another layout I made for Scrap That Baby. The prompt was "funny faces. Eli looks puzzled by the strange creature with fur and whiskers.

 

 I painted the center of the patterned paper with acrylic paint and used the same paint to add green dots to the tags.

Supplies: patterned paper and tags (Basic Grey), letter stickers (Doodlebug), paint (Honig), butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), twine, photo corners

I love designing for Scrap that Baby! Sarah's prompts make me create layouts that I probably wouldn't otherwise. I just finished working on my layout for the next prompt that will be posted March 1st. If you scrapbook about babies under age 4, you may want to apply for Scrap That Baby Design Team. But hurry, the deadline is tomorrow. All info is here.

Crafting Jewish Style - DT call

Crafting Jewish Style is looking to expands it's Design Team. You can find all details here and here. That reminds me that I didn't share my last two layouts for Crafting Jewish Style.

Supplies: patterned paper and stickers (Crafting Jewish Style), journaling sticker (Jenni Bowlin), wired ribbon (unknown), epoxy stickers (Cloud 9), sequins (Making Memories), dies and die-cut machine (Lifestyle Crafts)

Supplies: patterned paper (Crafting Jewish Style), border punch (Fiskars), circle punches (Fiskars), dies and die-cut machine (Lifestyle Crafts)

This layout is based on a sketch created by me :) You can see the sketch and what other CJS designers did with it here

BTW, if you are looking for a great sale, Scrapbook Express had a 40% off sale on Crafting Jewish Style kits.

Blog Hop winner

Hmm, I didn't blog for 15 days. What happened?? Actually, quite a lot. Earlier this month we went to Midwestern Synchronized Ice Skating Championships. Lila's team did very well, they placed 5th and qualified for Nationals. It took as a while to "recover" from the news and understand how we finance her trip to California in 3 weeks. Eventually we worked it out. The flight is booked, she is going with Ofir this time. There are still many things to do - we have bake sale this week and I am going to help another mom to redo the competition dresses. But you probably are more interested to know who is the winner of the blog hop prize :)

So, here it is. I had 24 comments. I used random.org to give me a random number from 1 to 24 and the number is


17th commenter was Tal! Tal, please email me your shipping address. You can find my email address if you click on my profile picture.

I appreciate all your comments, I enjoyed tremendously visiting your blogs and I am still going through my list.

BTW, Lila was 5 in this picture. The picture was taken in September, she turned 6 the following November. So you all were right :)

I don;t like posts without any crafty pictures so I will share my January DT work for Scrapbook Express.

Supplies: patterned paper (My Mind's Eye), circle punches (Fiskars, EK Success), stickles (Ranger), letter stickers (Making Memories)

Supplies: patterned paper (Making Memories), lace (My Mind's Eye), journaling card (Making Memories), dimensional stickers (Making Memories), letter stickers (Doodlebug), felt flower (American Crafts), flowers (EK Success)

Supplies: cardstock (American Crafts), diecuts (My Mind's Eye), letters (Making Memories), heart dies and die-cut machine (Lifestyle Crafts), button (Doodlebug), jewels (Doodlebug), twine

Supplies: patterned paper, border stickers, letter stickers (Bo Bunny), felt snowflakes (Little Yellow Bicycle), jewels (big - Bo Bunny, small - Doodlebug), stickles (Ranger)

Tuesday Trio Anniversary Blog Hop

To celebrate the blog anniversary and joining of the new DT member Zehavit we are blog hopping today!

This time, each of the DT members is hosting a giveaway, which means there are seven different giveaways, and seven chances to win!!!

How is it going to work??

At the end of the post I will ask a question relevant to the post. To participate in the prize drawing you will need to become a follower of my blog and leave a comment with the answer to the question.

The blog hop will last for two weeks. The winners will be posted on each blog. I want to show you a picture of my little prize. American Crafts rose ribbon is my new favorite thing and I couldn't resist the little roses I found at Michael's. The colors are so soft and remind me of spring.


This week we worked with the sketch #52 and were asked to use glitter. I used Lila's picture from 2004. She looks so cute and girly. I added layered punched borders, lace, scallop border made from transparency, white glittery butterflies and red glittery letters. I can't believe this girl is 12 now and is taller than me.

Supplies: cardstock(unknown), patterned paper (Anna Griffin, Me and My Big Ideas), chipboard letters (Anna Griffin), journaling cards (Anna Griffin), butterflies (Making Memories), transparency (Hambly Studio), die and diecut machine (Lifestyle Crafts), border punch (Fiskars), circle punch (Fiskars), lace, tissue paper

So here is my "tricky" question to you - How old was Lila in the picture? Answer the question in the comments and don't forget to become a follower. I will draw a winner on February 15th. You have 6 more chances to win by visiting the blogs of other Tuesday Trio DT members.

Zehavit

Amanda

Chen

Orli

Shir
Dailly

One last thing - still time to participate in the giveaway on the Tuesday Trio blog right here. Good luck and happy blog hopping!

Scrapbook Express December DT work and Silhouette giveaway!

It is time to share what I did for Scrapbook Express in December.

Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill Basics), patterned paper (Making Memories), flowers (Petaloo), flower die and diecut machine (Quikutz), border corner punch (Fiskars), corner squeeze punch (Fiskars), stamp (Papertrey Ink)

Supplies: patterned paper (American Crafts), stickers (American Crafts), border corner punch (Fiskars), smooch ink (Clearsnap), pen (American Crafts), letter stickers (Doddlebug)

Supplies: patterned paper (My Mind's Eye, Crafting Jewish Style), chipboard letters (Heidi Swapp), letter stickers (Sassafras Lass, Doddlebug), circle stickers (Crafting Jewish Style), brads (My Mind's Eye), ribbon, charm, twine, pin (unknown)

Supplies: cardstock(unknown), patterned paper (Making Memories, We R Memory Keepers), embossed stickers (We R Memory Keepers), letter stickers (Doodlebug), faux eyelets (Jo-Ann), tag (Basic Grey)

I am really enjoying being part of the DT and just being part of the Scrapbook Express community. I met wonderful people there that are friendly, fun and keep my creative juice flowing! And don't forget the store! Heather has awesome prices on everything and always has sales. I really need to restrain myself when I order products for my DT projects. I would love to see some of you joining and participating in our challenges!

Right now, Scrapbook Express is hosting a Silhouette giveaway on Facebook. Here all the details:

Join the Scrapbook Express Event on Facebook!

Silhouette Give-away Where: Scrapbook Express When: Monday, February 28 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Scrapbook Express fan? Get a friend to like our page and mention you in a comment and you will receive an additional entry in our Silhouette Give-away!! We will randomly choose a winner from our Facebook Scrapbook Express Fans.

Isn't it awesome?

Tuesday Trio: new cards and blog candy

It was a while since I posted my Tuesday Trio DT work. The first card was based on sketch 48 and the challenge was to make a circle card with vintage feel. Vintage is not really my thing but I did my best. I used several die-cuts by K&Co that I got from Michael's few weeks ago. Looks vintage to me :)

Supplies: patterned paper (Kaiser Craft), die-cuts (K&Company), lace (unknown), jewel (Heidi Swapp), ink (Ranger)

The next card is based on sketch 49. Here the challenge was to use sewing.

Supplies: felt (Creative Imaginations), die-cuts (circle - Daisy D, sentiment - K&Company), chipboard heart (Heidi Grace), ribbon (unknown)

The next card is based on sketch 50 and again the challenge was "vintage". I really like how this card turned out! Maybe because I was using my new doily die. The flowers are from the same packet of vintage die-cuts from Michael's.

Supplies: patterned paper (Kaiser Craft), die-cuts (K&Company), pearls (Zva Creative), ink (Ranger), dies (Doily - My Favorite Things, label - Quickutz), stamp (American Crafts)

You can still play along! This challenge will be open till January 29th, 4pm CST. Link up your creations here

The last card for Tuesday Trio is based on sketch 51 that was posted today. The challenge today is to add a hidden sentiment to the card. I used my new Quickutz (I actually should say Lifestyle Crafts) hearts border die, the same I used on my white Winter 1972 layout. The border has 5 hearts, I cut 2 hearts, folded them and secured with a ribbon and brad. Like a mini card. The heart opens to reveal a sentiment.

Supplies: cardstock (unknown), die (Lifestyle Crafts), border punch (Fiskars), chipboard heart (Heidi Grace), letter stickers (Making Memories), butterflies (Jenni Bowlin), ribbon (unknown), brad (unknown)

If you want to play along, you can link up your creations (it doesn't have to be cards) here. It will be open till February 5th, 4pm CST.

Now to the exciting news - Tuesday Trio is hosting a giveaway to celebrate one year anniversary of the blog! You can read all about it here. Scroll down to the end of the post and don't let the strange symbols scare you away. The blog is bilingual and each Hebrew paragraph is followed by English.

This is all for today!

P.S. I talked with my mom about the Winter layout and she told me that it is probably winter of 1973-1974. Now it makes sense. I probably look more like 2 years old than 1 year old. So I replaced the number sticker and now it is called Winter 1973

Winter Wonderland

It feels like winter here in Wisconsin. We had few snowy days and we were promised very cold temperatures for the weekend. In the middle of January I can't really complain about winter, only embrace it. One way of doing it is taking wintery pictures and looking back at the old ones.
The January Divas monthly challenge at Scrapbook Express is called Winter Wonderland - it calls for all white layout. It also asks to use something on the layout for each letter of the word "winter". You can read all details here

After going through my white supplies, ordering more white supplies, changing my mind 5 times I finally picked a picture. It is the original picture of little me and my mom probably from December 1972 or January 1973. I didn't want to put anything on top of the picture so I grouped all my embellishments around it.

Supplies: cardstock (Bazzill, Core'dinations), dies and diecut machine (Quickutz), photo corner punch (EK Success), distressed crackle paint (Ranger), buttons (Doodlebug), jewels (Doodlebug), letter stickers (Doddlebug), border punch (Martha Stewart), ribbon (Chatterbox), felt border (Yellow Little Bicycle), matte accents (Ranger)

There is still time to join! The contest is open till January 31st. The winner will receive $25 gift certificate to the Scrapbook Express store. Great prize if you ask me!

Here is something completely different. I used this sketch from My Mind's Eye blog to make this layout of Ella holding a huge icicle. The papers and the diecuts are from MME "My Colorful Christmas" collection.

Supplies: patterned paper (MME), diecuts (MME), letter stickers (Doddlebug), distress ink (Ranger), jewels (Doddlebug), chipboard corners (DCWV), ribbon (unknown), circle punch (Fiskars)

I seriously need to take pictures of Eli in the snow. If only he would agree to wear snowboots and mittens....

New card and more about Sketches2Scrapbook

I love playing with new scrapbooking goodies! Few days ago I received my order from My Favorite Things (I won their facebook prize drawing!). I ordered 2 stamp sets and this awesome Dainty Doily die! (I can't give you a link because it is sold out right now). I already made 3 cards using it. I made this sweet card for one little girl that is turning 1 this month. I cut 2 sizes of felt circles and sewed them together adding few beads in the center. All papers came from my scrap drawers.

Supplies: dies (Doily - My Favorite Things, flower pot, label - Quickutz), stamp (PaperTrey Ink)

I can't share my other 2 cards yet but I can finally share 2 layouts I did for Sketches2Scrapbook iPhone app.

Suppplies: cardstock (Core'dinations), patterned paper (American Crafts), journaling sticker (Heidi Grace), letters (blue - The Paper Studio, chipboard - Heidi Grace), stamps (Fiskars)
Based on the sketch from Sketches2Scrapbook

Supplies: patterned paper (blue with words - Heidi Grace, words (Sandy Lion), blue polka dot (Heidi Grace), flourish sticker (K&Company), chipboard stickers (K&Company), journaling tag (K&Company), dimensional flower stickers (K&Company), pens (Sakura), border punch (Fiskars), circle template and cutting tool (Fiskars)
Based on the sketch from Sketches2Scrapbook

I loaded the app on Lila's iPod and spent some time playing with it. It didn't disappoint! It has so many search options! It would be perfect to have at the crops. Think about having more than 100 terrific sketches with examples in your hand. It is getting even better - new release is already in progress ;-) For those of you with other smart phones - stay tuned! There will be a version for you also.

2010 Top 15 layouts

Happy New Year my dear blog readers!

Yes, I know it is already January 10th, but today if the first time I sit down to update my blog in 2011 and my first opportunity to wish you a great 2011.

Looking back to 2010, we had an eventful December: holiday celebrations, play performances, new IPod touch, ice skating competition (first place!), a trip to Wisconsin Dells and a birthday.


During the last week of December I enjoyed reading all posts by the bloggers that showed their top 10 creations. I decided to do the same. My records show (yes, I keep records) that in 2010 I made 111 layouts and 45 cards. I couldn't narrow down my layouts to top 10 and ended up with 15. I don't know if they are top 15 but they are certainly my favorites. Some of them use my favorite techniques, so use cool new product but most of them I love because they bring special memories. I linked each layout to the original blog post with more details and the supplies.

The dress

Countdown

I've dreamed...

Sweet baby

Blanket for my baby

I didn't blog about this layout yet. I made it for Scrapbook Express progressive challenge last month.

Blueberry hands

Beach bum

Welcome home

Adorable U

October 31

I realized that I never posted this layout on my blog. It is one of the rare layouts with a picture of me. Lila took the picture holding the camera and I decided that it is scrap worthy.

Us

Beauty
(I am proud to say that Nic Howard liked this layout and used it in end of class presentation)

The last project is not a layout but actually 2 almost identical albums, 30 8x8 layouts each that I made for the team coaches. I don't want to share the pictures of the girls so I posted only few sneak peaks here It was very time consuming project but I think it turned out great.

This is officially my longest post. If you are still here - thank you! I really appreciate that!

I still have lots of things I want to share but it will have to wait till later.
Hope 2011 is treating you well!